This Christmas Critic Reviews

What's surprising is how well Whitmore, the director, manages to direct traffic. He's got one crisis cooling, another problem exploding, a third dilemma gathering steam and people exchanging significant looks about secrets still not introduced. It's sort of a screwball-comedy effect, but with a heart.Read the full review

It's warm, witty and alive, with a fantastic cast and a belief in its characters that transcends its formulaic tendencies.Read the full review

Everyone in this madly good-looking clan has got soapy problems as befits an aspirational, say-amen holiday movie.Read the full review

The result is a big, gushy, emotional, secret-driven, family-obsessive casserole, perhaps facile in some of its resolutions, but so full of good heart and love -- the real kind, which is scratchy, awkward, difficult to express and doesn't conquer all but just some -- that the movie is difficult to resist.Read the full review

A rare holiday treat, a package that's both thoughtfully selected and sure to please its intended recipients.Read the full review

"Christmas" won't wow anyone with its audacity or originality, but it's bound to make plenty of people happy with its slick, crowd-pleasing familiarity.Read the full review

Enjoyable enough. Though like some holiday fare, it doesn't quite stay with you.Read the full review

One of those overstaffed, overstuffed "when do we eat?" holiday dramedies. Call it a double-extra-strength episode of "Soul Food."Read the full review

Boisterous and bittersweet, the film is not dull, but it does feel hopelessly overstuffed, with scant time to devote to any one story line.Read the full review